You may think that your computers/servers are the most important part of your homelab, and in some respects, you’re right – these are what actually host and power your services. However, when getting started with homelabbing, one often overlooked or undervalued component is the network. If you’re only hosting one or two services, you may be perfectly fine using a consumer router and the gateway from your ISP (Internet Service Provider). However, as your homelab expands, you will soon be limited by the capabilities of these devices.
As you expand your homelab, you may want to expose your hosted services outside of your home network so that you can access your data or systems when you’re out and about, or you may want to share with family members or friends. This requires several capabilities that aren’t native to ISP-provided equipment or basic routers – capabilities like network segmentation, dynamic DNS (DDNS), robust firewall functions, policy-based routing, etc. The more services you host, the more traffic your network will need to handle. With more traffic “on the wire” (going over the network), you may start to experience network slowness (aka, congestion) – not because you don’t have enough bandwidth from your ISP (this bandwidth comes into play when traffic leaves your network and when data is sent back in), but because your network hardware is performing multiple jobs (NAT between the Internet and your internal clients, firewall, routing, DHCP assignments, DNS queries and caching, wireless frequency analysis, etc.), and processing more data. Segmenting traffic using VLANs (virtual networks) helps to keep traffic organized, minimizing unnecessary “hops” and reducing messages traversing the full network. Dynamic DNS, in conjunction with services like Cloudflare (which have a free tier – more on this in another post) and a registered domain, allow you to be able to reach your homelab’s external IP address without needing to pay for a static external IP or business-tier internet services. If you’re allowing connections back in to your homelab from the external Internet, you’ll want to ensure you have firewall rules in place to only expose / allow access to what you want to access, not your entire network. All of these functions are limited or non-existent on consumer routers and ISP gateways. Yes, some of these functions can be worked around using containers (such as DDNS). But, in the long run, this results in more to maintain, higher potential of failure and more complicated troubleshooting since there are more points of possible failure.
When planning for future expansion, you have a few different options. Some people like to host an open source router operating system, with a popular one being pfSense. This powerful OS has many of the advanced features I mentioned above, and there is a strong community that uses this system. If you have mixed network hardware (switches, access points, etc.), this may be a good option for you. It’s free (all you need is the machine to run it), there’s a lot of documentation online for information and troubleshooting, and has all the functionality you would want. While you might consider running this as a VM, I would recommend against this and instead having a dedicated machine. If you use a virtual machine, when you need to perform maintenance or updates on your host, your entire network would go down.
Another option – which I recommend and use myself – is to use an integrated system like Ubiquiti Unifi. There are several benefits and reasons why this is my preferred and suggested approach:
- Dedicated hardware: Unifi offers routers, switches, access points, along with other devices including wired and wireless security cameras, door access pin pads and locks, video door bells and more.
- A fully integrated platform: You can manage and configure all Unifi devices from a single management console. No need to remember multiple URLs and multiple logins – everything is available in the same console. This includes routing, switch configuration, Wifi, security and access.
- Remote access: If you use a Unifi Cloud Gateway, you can remotely access your management console through a web UI. While this may not seem like something you would use, I have found it quite helpful when I’ve been away from home and needed to make changes on my network.
- Quality: Unifi gear is not cheap. However, I am of the mindset of “buy once, cry once.” By investing in quality network equipment early on, it will allow you to scale your systems and expand your capabilities as your homelab grows.
- Features: Unifi gateways support all of the features I mentioned above and more – DDNS, VLANs, firewall and policy based routing, VPN server and VPN client, built-in geo-IP range filtering/blocking, multi-WAN, and more.
- Performance: Unifi has several different “tiers” ranging from Pro-sumer (performance / semi-professional consumer) all the way to enterprise equipment. This means the various pieces range from 1Gbps RJ45 ethernet speeds all the way to 10Gbps RJ45, with many also having SFP/SFP+ ports as well. They also have a large lineup of PoE to PoE+++ switches, and the access points support Wifi 7.
As you can see there are a number of benefits to using Unifi equipment, which simplify management, expand capabilities and increase performance. A reliable network allows you to focus on experimenting with new services and learning new skills rather than troubleshooting latency, intermittent issues, and finding workarounds. While it may seem like I’m sponsored by Unifi, I am not. I have been using Ubiquiti equipment for many years, and I think they are great quality, very capable, and the overall best option for homelabbers. I personally use the Unifi Cloud Gateway Fiber, USW Pro 48 (switch), and U7 Pro XG access point. This setup allows me to segregate my network traffic, keeping my IoT devices separate from my lab separate from my personal devices. I have multiple networks and WLANs, including a network with full-tunnel VPN. I also have the gateway set up as a VPN server so I can connect remotely to my network/services while I’m out and about.
At the end of the day, your network is the foundation your homelab is built on. Servers, storage, containers, and services are the fun parts, but they all depend on stable routing, clean segmentation, reliable wireless, and predictable remote access. You do not need to buy enterprise-grade equipment on day one, but you should think about where your lab is heading before you outgrow the router your ISP handed you. Whether you choose pfSense, Unifi, or another platform entirely, the important thing is to move toward a network you understand and control. Start with the basics: a capable gateway, managed switching, VLAN support, solid firewall rules, and access points that can handle your space. From there, you can grow into VPNs, policy-based routing, multiple WAN connections, dedicated IoT networks, and more advanced security controls. For me, Unifi has been the right balance of capability, usability, and long-term scalability. It gives me the features I need without turning every network change into a separate project. Your setup may look different, but the goal should be the same: build a network that supports your homelab instead of becoming the thing that constantly holds it back. In the next post, I’ll dig deeper into one of the most useful pieces of a homelab network: using VLANs to separate devices, services, and traffic without needing a pile of separate physical networks.